Full Share: Mesclun mix, Spinach, Green onions, Red radishes, Baby Bok Choy, Red Russian Kale bunch, and either baby romaine lettuces or a bunch of baby beets.

Partial Share: Baby Bok Choy, Red Russian Kale bunch, Mesclun Salad Mix, Spinach, and Green onions.

Hello CSA members!

It’s a busy time of year at the farm, and it felt good today to be on the farm all day getting things done. It’s the time of year when we have a huge diversity of tasks….we are in peak planting season, but we’re also having to weed and irrigate what’s been in the field a few weeks, and we are harvesting every morning. There is always a huge list of things to do, but that seems to describe farming…we get through it every year, and I’m sure that will be the case this year as well. It helped that today was super productive. To give you a glimpse of a day on the farm…..the entire farm crew spent the morning harvesting for CSA. I think we picked 76 pounds of spinach, 71 pounds of salad mix, 71 bunches of radishes, 154 bunches of Baby Bok Choy, as well as some agonizingly slow arugula and baby kale harvest. Then we all split up to tackle the list. I unbolted the Rolling Thunder High Tunnel from it’s braces, and rolled it off of the early carrots and over to it’s other location where it will be planted in tomatoes tomorrow, and re-anchored it in place.

Nicole washed all the greens in the pack shed, while Rebecca, Phil, Jessie, Wesley, and Flo tackled the weeding of 2 full beds of carrots. Then Phil and I headed over to blow straw mulch in between the sqash beds before planting next week, Jessie headed in to wash radishes and BBC, and the carrot beds got finished just after 5 o’clock.

When the crew finished up, I raced out to seed some cover crop in an old pasture that I’ve been wanting to improve for years…. I’m hoping that it rains tonight and gets watered in.

Pretty good for a holiday!

And when I walked in the shop, I was greeted with a delicious home made pizza that Rebecca had made! It was a work of art…..pumpkin seed crust (you can buy the mix from Savor Tooth), with an amazing pesto sauce made out of stinging Nettles and olive oil, topped with arugula and glory bowl dressing ( I know, no cheese or marinara sauce…it didn’t need any!). If you know of a nettle patch somewhere, I encourage you to try it! If not, blend your kale leave from your CSA in olive oil and try that instead…it makes a great pesto while we wait for basil to grow.

Trivia fact: Last year, our little farm used over 15,000 plastic half pound bags during CSA and Farmer’s Markets….I don’t even want to guess what our total bag count was. I think that statistic really troubled Rebecca. I think most folks would agree that our world is struggling with a bit of a plastic issue. So, she set out to do better. She spent a ton of time researching options, ordering samples, and talking to others about the best approach. The goal was to use plastic bags that are truly compostable…not in 500 years as opposed to 1,000 years, or some other greenwashed idea…but literally capable of being composted in your back yard compost pile, on the farm, or by a company like Dirt Rich Compost in Whitefish. For CSA, we decided to go with BioBags. They are not as pretty as those virgin plastic vented bags you’ve received in the past, but we think it’s the right thing to do. They are new to us as well, so let us know how they perform.

As the weather turns hot this week, it’s time to get out your grill. Wondering what to do with the Baby Bok Choy or Spring Onions? Brush them with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and grill them on low heat. If you want a little more seasoning, you can try this recipe, or even this variation. Well, I’ll admit, I’m tired, and bed sounds tempting…we’ll see you at CSA pickup!

Todd